Cas Holmes - Böcker

The idea of group projects in textile art is nothing new – people have been coming together to sew for centuries, and quilters often work together on projects such as 'story quilts'. But recently the trend has increased in popularity – textile artists regularly share ideas and work sociably, from simple one-to-one collaborations with friends to ambitious community projects and ongoing textile-art groups.Well-known textile artists Cas Holmes and Anne Kelly have been involved in a very productive collaboration for several years, and also devise and run community textile-art events and gallery exhibitions, both together and separately. In this fascinating book, they present an invaluable guide to working collaboratively, in both small and large groups. They provide useful information on setting up groups, finding venues, establishing ground rules and working methods, and staging group exhibitions, plus a wealth of practical information for ways to work together – working on one project at the same time, swapping pieces between different people, creating different variations on a theme, developing work by means of joint sketchbooks, and even working postally or online. They also demonstrate how working with other artists can have a positive influence on your own personal work.Illustrated with many examples of work produced collaboratively, this thought-provoking book will help you connect with other textile artists and take your own work beyond the personal.

The events of your life, from local walks to exotic trips, can provide endless inspiration for textile art. This inspiring book shows you how to record your experiences, using sketchbooks, journals and photography, to create personal narratives that can form a starting point for more finished stitched-textile pieces.Acclaimed textile artist and teacher Cas Holmes, whose work is often inspired by her life and the journeys she makes, helps you find inspiration through your own life and explains how to record what you see in sketchbooks and journals, which can often become beautiful objects in themselves. She explains how you can use photography, both as documentation and as inspiration, and sometimes incorporate it into the work itself, along with found objects and ephemera.Throughout the book are useful techniques that can be harnessed to add extra interest to your work, such as methods for making layered collages, how to 'sketch' with stitch, and advice on design and colour. If you want to create beautiful, unique work inspired by your life and travels, this is the perfect book for you.

Textile Landscapes demonstrates how to develop your approach to textile art with a focus on using found objects and paint and stitch on cloth and paper. Cas explains how to exploit the contrast between the hands-on textural quality of working with fabrics and threads and the spontaneity and movement of brush marks to lend a painterly quality to your work.She begins with the basics – keeping a sketchbook to generate ideas, painting  and stitching on cloth and on paper and working digitally; Inspiring Landscapes looks at natural and urban space, the changing seasons and great landscapes as well as intimate spaces and travel diaries; Painting and Marking with Cloth explains the practical aspects of painting and dyeing cloth and how to make connections between paint, print, dye, stencil and stitch; Stitch-scapes looks at the different forms of landscape, experimenting with photographs and prints and how to translate those images using ink, stitch, abstract and collage techniques and then at how to transform the image using digital techniques; On Closer Inspection covers using elements and details from landscape and the environment as found objects and for research; finally People and Place explores the relationship we have with the outdoors and the built environment, as well as personal interpretations of place.The book includes artworks by the author that explore the UK, USA, Europe and Australia, as well as works by other internationally renowned textile artists. A creative guide ideal for textile artists of all levels – students, teachers and practising artists and makers – to make unique and beautiful work inspired by the world around us.

Inspiration and practical tips on incorporating the everyday into textile art.In Embroidering the Everyday, acclaimed textile artist Cas Holmes explores the ‘everyday’ and the ‘domestic’, generating a wealth of inspiration and raw material to create textile work that resonates with time and place.Cas invites us to re-examine the world and use the limitations sometimes imposed by geographic area or individual circumstances as a rich resource to develop ideas for mixed media textiles in a more thoughtful way. With techniques and projects throughout, the book explores: How to be more resourceful with what we have to hand, including working with vintage scraps, homemade dyes and papers, and even teabags and biscuits.Rediscovering family history and how photographs and objects can provide inspiration, including Cas’s own exploration of her Romani heritage.Drawing inspiration from our local landscape and how it changes through the seasons.How to transform materials with mark-making, printing, image transfer, collage and stitch.Packed with inspirational work from the author, and other leading practitioners who place the everyday at the heart of their work, this treasure trove of ideas, techniques and practical projects is an essential guide for our times.

A thoughtful, meditative guide to the ways creative textile art can soothe and comfort us during challenging times.Renowned British textile artists Cas Holmes and Deena Beverley, each well known for their richly textured, deeply evocative work in stitch, collaborate for the first time in this important and timely book. Beautifully illustrated with a wealth of work from both artists along with other embroiderers and textile artists from around the world, Soulful Stitch documents a wide range of stitched responses to crisis, both personal and global. With invaluable advice on how to develop your own work in times of trouble, it explores:• How the restrictions and trials of everyday life can inform your textile work, enabling you to develop imaginative new approaches.• The healing power of stitch to soothe and console, with the simple act of putting needle into fabric providing a mindful route to inner calm.• Practical ways to continue with your textile art practice in the face of seismic life changes, finding creative opportunity in difficult situations.• How to use found objects, repurposed threads and personal items to create deep emotional resonance in your own work.Both authors have recent lived experience of having to navigate new paths through big life challenges, making this book particularly heartfelt. It truly demonstrates how even in the toughest times, creativity in textile art can keep you afloat.